In this issue we have decided to include by request a copy of the hand-out prepared by Jeff Childs for cur field visit to Llanishen. In future numbers we shall try to include brief notes on other places we have visited during the summer months.

Continuing our policy of reproducing source material for the history of Roath, we publish this quarter the Report of the Officer of Health for 1872. It is a model of a 19th century professional report and must have in its day so impressed the Roath District Board of Health that they ordered several copies to be specially printed.

The document is quite rare and we are indebted to the Librarian, Cardiff Central Library for allowing access to their original printed copy and for permission to copy its contents. The report for 1872 being the only one available in printed form provides us with a valuable insight into the living conditions of the parishioners, the state of public health and sanitary conditions prevailing in Roath in the Victorian era. Dr.Paine was an extremely able and energetic officer who for many years was also Medical Officer of Health in Cardiff. Public Health in Roath will be the subject of an article in a future Newsletter.

* * * * * * * *

CONTENTS

Brief Notes on Llanishen Jeff Childs 61

Llanishen - sketch map 65

Notes on the Church in Roath Alec Keir 66

A to Z of Place-names in Roath (G to I) 71

Sketch map of Roath, 1840, showing "Griffithsmoor". 76

Report of Officer of Health to the Roath District Board of Health, 1872 77

BRIEF NOTES ON LLANISHEN

Like Roath, Llanishen has been at varying times throughout history a village, a parish and a manor. Until well into this century the area was somewhat akin to a nucleated village although dispersed farmsteads were also a characteristic feature. Since the Second World War the landscape has changed dramatically, the pastoral setting having given way to suburbia - and suburbia “gone mad’.

THE MANOR OF ROATH KEYNSHAM

There was no manor of Llanishen but the area we now know as Llanishen formed part of the several manors and other lands which fell within the Norman lordship of Cardiff. Corbett’s map of the manors shows that the greater part of what became the ecclesiastical parish of Llanishen was included in the outlying reaches of the manor of Roath Keynsham. Within this area fell what is now Thornhill Road - stretching almost from its junction with Beulah Road and Ty Glas Road as far north as Craig Llanishen where the Traveller’s Rest now stands.

The western boundary of this part of Roath Keynsham appears to have followed the same line as the boundaries between the later ecclesiastical parishes of Llanishen and Whitchurch. This part of the manor, therefore, included the area since taken up by well known homesteads and farms such as New House, Deri Dwm, Pantysgawen (Llanishen Cottage Farm), Parc (Llanishen Cottage) and Ton Mawr. (now demolished).

The eastern boundary followed the course of Llanishen Brook from its source in Craig Llanishen as far south as Ty Glas Road. Between Thornhill Road and the eastern boundary the manor included the later farmsteads of Tir Hwnt, Llwyn Crwyn Fawr, Ysgubor Wen and Ty Coch.

Capel Gwilym (Baptist), erected in 1831, also fell within this part of Roath Keynsham manor. The southern boundary followed the Ty Glas Road from its junction with Heol Hir westward to include Blue House (or Ty Glas). At this point ( approximately at the junction of Ty Glas Road and White Barn Road) the boundary continued horizontally to its western boundary approximately where Tyn y Coed Farm stood.

MANOR OF ROATH DOGFIELD

The manor of Roath Dogfield also included within its territory a sizeable area of modern Llanishen. On Corbett’s map it is shown as including the greater part of Heol Hir, Llanishen Church and at its eastern extremity the area that made way for the Rhymney Railway and Llanishen station, as well as Llanishen Mill. The eastern boundary for part of its way also followed the Llanishen and Lisvane parochial boundary. Included within the area once covered by this manor were Llwyn Crwyn Fach (later Llwyn Crwyn Ganol), Llanishen Mill and Mill Farm.

MANOR OF LLYSTALYBONT

Like the manors of Roath Keynsham and Dogfield, that of Llystalybont was fragmentary within the greater lordship of Cardiff. Within the later parish of Llanishen, Llystalybont formed two main areas. Part of it stretched from Craig Llanishen in the north to just south of where Cherry Orchard Road crosses the railway. In the west and south it was bounded by Roath Dogfield whereas in the north it was bounded by the Welsh country of Cibwr. This part of Llystalybont would have included part of Heol Hir, Hendre Farm and Velindre Cottage.

The main part of Llystalybont Manor however was concentrated south of the Ty Glas and Lisvane Roads so that within the later ecclesiastical parish it would have included the following farmsteads: Fidlas, Rhyd y Penna, Duffryn, Celyn, Cefn Coed Fach and Fair Oak.

THE GREAT HEATH

Until the Enclosure Award of 1809 the Great Heath (Mynydd Bychan) formed a wide tract of uncultivated land lying to the north of Cardiff. Corbett’s map of the manors shows the Great Heath as incorporating that part of the later Llanishen parish which included the following features: the cross roads at the junction of the Beulah, Ty Glas, Caerphilly and Thornhill Roads; part of Caerphilly Road just south of Ton yr Ewen Farm, the greater part of what became Cardiff Racecourse and Heathwood Road.

WELSH COUNTRY OR DISTRICT OF CIBWR

This formed a sizeable tract of land in the north-west of the Norman lordship. It was designated by the Normans as the Welshry, being characterised by dispersed settlements and consisting primarily of native Welsh tenants who, unlike their counterparts in the Englishry, held land free of services except the duty of attending the lord’s Court at Cardiff. That part of the district which came to be included within the ecclesiastical parish was centred in the remote north-west of the parish and would have included Heol Hir and Cwm farms.

THE PARISH OF LLANISHEN

The Church of St. Isan The parish church of St Isan or Nissan, like its sister ones in Roath, Lisvane and Llanforda originally served as a chapel of ease for the parish church of St. Mary, Cardiff. The parish of St. Mary’s covered an extensive area coterminous with the Norman lordship of Cardiff. According to J.H. Matthews, "there was a large monastery of the ancient British Church (in Llanishen) presided over by Saint. Nisien or Isan". If this was on the same site as the present church it would therefore be pre-Norman in origin.

According to John Hilling:

St. Isan’s Church at Llanishen is more recent (than St.Denys, Lisvane) and comprises two churches in one - a narrow fourteenth century building and, alongside it, a much larger nineteenth century extension. The earlier church now forms the south aisle (originally the nave), a small chapel (originally the chancel), a stone-vaulted south porch and a slender embattled west tower. Curiously, both churches seem to be dedicated to the same saint - Denys being an abbreviation for and Isan being a derivation from Dionysius - and would appear to be two branches of a still earlier chapel.

(In Stewart Williams ed. South Glamorgan: A County History. p. 51).

The tithes of the chapelries along with the mother church of St.Mary were appropriated when the latter became a priory of Tewkesbury Abbey in 1102. As rector, the Abbey was entitled to the greater or corn tithes. The practice usually adopted was to assign to the Vicar (of St. Mary’s, Cardiff) the lesser tithes and the altarage dues, leaving to the Rector the major or great tithe, more easily calculable. However in 1248 the Bishop of Llandaff agreed with the Abbey that the Vicar should include within his dues the proceeds of St. John’s Chapel (Cardiff) but was to maintain the Chaplain of St. Johns in food, and pay to the Abbey 20 shillings in acknowledgment of its rectorial rights. From the parish revenue would also be drawn the wage of the chaplains of Cardiff (St.John’s) and Roath,

"but in the case of the chaplain at Llanishen and Lisvane it was the practice to lease to him the oblations and certain of the tithes of the chapel in lieu of salary”.

(William Rees: Cardiff: A History of the City. p.29). Rees adds:

At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the chaplain at Llanishen seems to have ministered both at Llanishen and Lisvane and the Church buildings here comprised the priests house at Llanishen and the tithe barns at both Llanishen and Lisvane.

It was shortly after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with the purchase in 1546 by Sir George Herbert of Tewkesbury property, that the former chapel of Llanishen with Lisvane became separate parishes.

According to Rees:

Tewkesbury property here (Llanishen) with the priest's house and land was already being leased by John Bawdrip but in 1557 the property of the church at Lianishen with Lisvane was sold outright to Roger Kemeys of Cefn Mably for £120....In 1603 Llanishen was a curacy worth £5 a year, the patronage by that time held by Sir Edward Lewis to descend in course of succession to the Earl of Plymouth, and to Charles Kermeys-Tynte.....At the end of the eighteenth century John Kemeys-Tynte was sharing the tithes of Llanishen with the Earl of Plymouth. The 1851 Religious Census states that the tithe owners were still the Earl of Plymouth and Charles Kemeys-Tynte. The tithes were let for £20 per annum subject to an annual payment of £10 to the perpetual curate.

LLANISHEN TITHE AWARD

According to the Llanishen Tithe Apportionment of 1844, the parish of Llanishen comprised some 2,833 acres which were subject to tithe payments. The total acreage was 2,915. The titheable element consisted of:

1,155 acres ARABLE

1,265 acres MEADOW or PASTURE

413 acres WOODLAND

The IMPROPRIATORS or tithe owners were Robert Henry Clive and Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte. Both were to receive a sum of £110.10s., this being the sum assessed by the valuer as being the GROSS RENT charge payable to them in lieu of tithes.

THE CHURCH IN ROATH (Continued from p. 57)

TITHES - GREAT AND LESSER

The Tithe Apportionment of 1839 tells us that The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Gloucester were the “Appropriate Rectors” of (with certain exceptions) that part of the parish which lay south of the Roath Brook, while the Marquess of Bute was the owner of the Great Tithes of the portion (with certain exceptions) of the parish situated north of the Roath Brook. The Great Tithes were then yielding £232.10s. The fact that income which properly should have gone towards the upkeep of the parish church had to be diverted to monastic institutions, to Gloucester Cathedral (or their lessees) and to a lay impropriator, accounts for the comparative poverty of the parish church. So meagre was the value of the living (£75 p.a. up to the beginning of the present century) from the small (or vicarial) tithes that Roath could not afford its own vicarage; the vicariate was held in plurality with nearby parishes such as Rumney, Pentyrch, Lisvane or Llandough but in 1835, it was held with a parish as far away as Loughor in the Gower. This state of affairs continued until 1872 when Canon Leigh Morgan resigned as vicar of St.Mary‘s, Cardiff and St.Margaret's, and the Rev.F.W.Puller was appointed as the first vicar solely of Roath. The population of the parish at that time was about 8000 and was rapidly expanding.

ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY

The medieval parish church was replaced between 1867 and 1871. The old church was a squat but solid structure with a whitewashed exterior and interior. Apart from the square tower, which was added in 1918, the present building is the design of John Prichard, son of Rev. Richard Prichard, priest-vicar of Llandaff.

On Christmas Eve 1868, the year in which he had reached his majority, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, "heir to one of the most splendid properties which it has ever fallen to the lot of a British nobleman to possess"(1) was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He asserted his new-found independence by sacking Colonel Roos, architect to the Bute Trustees, and ordered the work already commenced on the new church to be completely demolished.

Roos was replaced by John Prichard, who had been a pupil of T.L.Walker, chief assistant to A.C.Pugin, the elder, and working in partnership with J.P.Seddon is best known locally for his restoration work on Llandaff Cathedral.

The Butes as patrons of the living held the advowson, or right of presentation to the benefice. The young Marquess agreed to allot £6000 towards the building of the new church.

ARCHITECTURE

The day after the new church was consecrated by the Bishop of Llandaff on 10th July 1870, the Western Mail wrote: The church is cruciform in plan and consists of a nave, chancel, transepts and south chancel aisle the east end of which forms the sacristy. The design also includes a central tower capped with a lofty spire but this is carried only a few feet above the ridge of the roof, the remaining portion not being included in the present contract.

The exterior of this small church has been described (by Peter Howell & Elisabeth Beazley) as plain to the point of dullness, especially as the intended octagonal crossing tower was never built.

The same authors describe the interior "as an astonishing display of uninhibited polychromy." The materials used include a wide variety of stone and brick all quarried or manufactured on the Bute estates. The chancel is of Penarth alabaster with patterns of red (Bute), white (Tymawr), and blue (Staffordshire) bricks.

An excellent architectural description of St Margaret’s is given by J.B.Hilling in his paper on “The Buildings of Cardiff’ in Stewart Williams' GLAMORGAN HISTORIAN, VOL.6 :

...... a Squat, cruciform building in early Decorated style with an uncompleted central tower. Externally, it is not one of Prichard’s best works; the interior , however, is a different kettle of fish altogether. Dark and gloomy, it has a mellow, age-old atmosphere enriched by bold detailing. Windows are few, but the stained glass "is fine, both in design and quality, being all the work of one firm, Messrs Burleson and Grylls, and, it is presumed, from designs by the late G.F.Bodley." (J.Ballinger, ‘Guide to Cardiff’ (1908), p.75). The walls are in light- coloured brick enlivened by black and red diaper work, with piers of cream and pink sandstone bands alternating with marble.

The reredos by J.N.Comer, depicting the 12 apostles, was erected in memory of the esteemed vicars, Pullar, Smythies and Beck. The rich foliage wood carving and sculptural work is by E Clark & Son. Llandaff.

ROATH CLERGY

We know little of the first Post-Reformation clerics in Roath, but one name that comes down to us is that of Morgan Gwyn who in 1538 had been granted a pension of 23s.4d. for life under an agreement made between the dissolved Monasteries of Margam and Tewkesbury. He is mentioned in the Particulars of Grants of 1546 of the lands of the dissolved monastery of Margam, referred to above:-

...... The Manor of Cardiff and Rothe in the Countie of Glam. p‘cell of the same possess' Above xxiiis.iiiid. for a Pencion paid to the curate of Rothe by the yere there.

...... Pension of Morgan Gwyn, clerk, serving the cure of the chapel of Rothe, beyond certain tithes as well of greater as of lesser oblations and other profits of the said Chapel, belonging to the said Morgan by writing of the late Abbot and Convent of Tewkesbury aforesaid, granted unto the said Morgan for the tern of his life; as in the same writing, the date whereof is on the 9th day of January in the 29th year of King Henry the 8th, is more fully contained; by the year 23s.4d.

I am not sure that this document can be taken as evidence, as J.Hobson Matthews seems to think, that Margam held the advowson (right of appointment of the incumbent) of Roath. Could Morgan Gwyn have been a redundant Cistercian monk from Margam who had been pensioned off after the Dissolution? He certainly came of gentry stock as he was the son of Lewis Gwyn of Roath, of the prolific Gwyn family of Llanishen, and his mother was a daughter of Thomas Vaughan. He seems to have had a base son, John, and in 1564 he was charged with non payment of subsidy.

It should be mentioned that it was common practice at this period to give a clergyman the courtesy title of "Sir" and to append "clerk" after his name to indicate that he was a in holy orders - a ‘cleric’.

We have a brief mention of a Sir John Lloyd, ‘clarke curatt’ in 1558 as one of the complainants against the Commissioners, as already mentioned above. The vicar of St.Mary’s in Cardiff in the same year was a John Pyll (Pill) who held the living of Roath with St.John’s, Cardiff.

A famous name is that of William Erbery, vicar of St.Mary’s, Cardiff, a pioneer of a separatist movement within the Church which soon evolved into Puritanism. Proceedings were instituted against him in 1635, his curate, Walter Craddock, having lost his licence the previous year. As most text-kooks tell us that Erbery was the son of a Roath merchant, there must be same historical evidence for the assertion, but we have not come across any reference to the family in the Society's records.

Erbery’s views, so it is said, became increasingly eccentric but some of Cradock‘s converts became leading lights in Welsh Puritan circles. His successor was Theodore Price M.A.,B.D., who, as vicar of St.Mary's, Cardiff also held the living of Roath.

In 1678 we hear of ‘Thomas ap Griffith Awbrey as "minister of God ‘s word" in Roath. His father, Griffith ap Thomas (of Evan of Rees Thomas of Jenkin Awbrey of Aberkenfig) was a minister of Rumney.

John Jenkins is mentioned in 1693 and a little later, William Morgan and his curate, Rice Davies.

Some of the names below were recorded by Mrs Augusta Rayer in her manuscript chronological list held at the C.C.L. of the incumbents of every parish in the old diocese of Llandaff. (Her husband, Rev. G.M.W.T. Rayer was rector of St. Athan 1906 - 1926).

1721. The patron then was Edward Herbert of Friars who was also patron of Llandough (with Leckwith and Cogan), according to Philip Jenkins (MORGANNWG Vol. XXVIII. 1984. p.34) who gives a list of patrons derived from Thomas Davies’s names sent to Browne Willis and incorporated in the latter’s "Pariochiale Anglicanum (1733).

In the same paper on "Church Patronage in Eighteenth-century Glamorgan" Philip Jenkins refers (p.44) to Nathaniel Wells acquiring the living of Roath in 1770.

1723. John Cook

1754. Lewis Jones 1763. William Evans was the curate who signed the Visitation Return for Roath for that year.

1770. John Priest B.A. was the son of John Priest of Cardiff. He matriculated at age of 16 in 1763 and graduated as B.A. in 1767. At his ordination he is described as of St. George.

1790. David Davies was also Rector of Llandough and Leckwith, held with the living of Roath.

1808. The parishes of St. Mary end St.John were joined.

1811 (1 November). James Cowper, who was also Rector of Llandough.

1822 (December). Thomas Stacey. He was the son of John Stacey of Carmarthen. He matriculated at age of 26 in 1817.

Obtained B.A. 1821 and M.A. 1824. Jesus College. He was J.P. & D.L.

Rector of Corby 1861. Gelligaer 1827. He was a Canon of Llandaff and married Mary Ann, daughter of John Richards and Elizabeth Priest. He resigned 2 December 1828.

1827. Calvert Jones. Son of Calvert Jones of Swansea. He matriculated 1785 age 18 - Pembroke College. He was rector of Loughor.

1829. Hugh Williams appointed curate for Roath and Peterstone-super-Ely.

1838. William Lister was curate.

1839. William Lister listed as incumbent in non-residence diocesan schedule.

1840. James Colquhoun Campbell. He was curate until 1872 and resigned at the same time as his Vicar, William Leigh Morgan.

1848.(7 May).Canon William Leigh Morgan. The first Vicar of the newly built St. Mary’s Parish Church in Bute Street, Cardiff and of Roath. He resigned as vicar of St. Mary’s and St. Margaret’s in 1872 and moved to Llanmaes, near Llantwit Major as Rector and died there in 1877.

1850. J.T.Wrenford licensed as curate Roath and Cardiff (St Mary V)

1863. Thomas Clapp appointed curate.

1869. Alfred Elias appointed curate.

1870. H.Barnett. appointed curate.

1872.(26 Feb.) Frederick William Puller. The first vicar exclusively of Roath. He resigned 2 June 1880.

1872. E.A. Green appointed curate.

1872. C.A.Smythies appointed curate

1873. Wentworth Watson appointed curate

1879. F.J.Beck appointed curate 1880. (25 July) Charles Alan Smythies, vicar. He resigned 1 Dec. 1883.

1881. N.D.Macleod appointed curate.

1883. (2 Dec.) Frederick John Beck, vicar. He resigned 14 May 1919.

1884. R.J.Ives appointed curate.

1884. H.V.Lean appointed curate

1889. H.W.North appointed curate.

1901. Evan Alexander Sutherland app. curate.

1901. G.P.Symonds app. curate.

1902. A.A.Cockle appointed curate.

1902. F.H.Pitt appointed curate.

1907. A.E.Allen appointed curate.

1915. H. Wellington app. curate.

1918. W.B. Godfrey appointed curate.

1918. William H. Thomas app. curate.

1920. (24 March) David John Jones, vicar.

1932. Silas Thomas Phillips, vicar.

1944. Henry Wellington, vicar.

1949. John Gwynno James, vicar.

1956. Eric Matthias Roberts, vicar.

1965. (7 Jan.) Ralph Holtam, vicar.

1976. (6 Dec.) Bernard Thomas Johns, vicar.

A to Z of PLACE-NAMES IN ROATH (Continued)

FAIROAK. (Welsh: Derwen-Deg). Described in C.R. V.367 as a "farm in the parish of Roath on the left bank of the Nant-mawr.(1785)." In fact the farmstead was within the parish of Llanishen but only just. Land Tax assessment of 1782 gives Mrs Williams of Fairoak as occupier of land owned by Rt. Hon. John, Lord Cardiffe. The notional rental value of the land was: £1 and the tax 4 shillings. The corresponding assessments for 1791 and 1794 show the occupier to be Rowland Thomas.

The farm and its land is the subject of Map No.11 of David Stewart‘s Survey of the Bute Estate of 1824 (G.R.O. D/OB. El). Edward Richards was then the tenant of 80 acres 3 rods 11 perches and 8 acres 3 roods 29 perches of woodland. (Total: 89a.3r.0.p.), and Wm.Williams was tenant of two plots (numbered 28 & 29) totalling 7 a. 0.r.13p. The area of the whole estate was therefore 96a. 3r. 13p.

Local tradition has it that the stump of the old oak which gave its name to the farm was preserved just within the railings of Roath Park, in which case the tree itself was within the parish of Roath. One of the names of the Roath Brook, incidentally, was Nant Derwen Deg. The farm buildings were occupied in 1958 by Cyril E. Stumbles, George A. Jones and George Tucker and were still in existence but in ruins in 1971. They stood on the corner of Maryport Road at the end of Lake Road East and shortly afterwards were demolished to make room for a block of flats. (0.S.1865.7885). Fairoak Road is the parish boundary.

FAWR ERW'R TWYNOG. Plot of meadowland part of Pengam 5a.3r.0p.

FAWR ERW’R YCHEN (Big Acre - Oxen) Part of Pengam. Plot No.115 Tithe Map. Pasture 6a.0r.4p.

FELIN. See "Cae'r Felin" also "Deg Erw’r Felin".

FFYNNON. See “Erw‘r Ffynnon".

FFYNON BREN. A spring giving its name to a picturesque thatched cottage, with a garden, on the north side of Albany Road opposite the end of Claude Road. Demolished 1890. (C.R.V.367)

FILER. See "Cae Filer"

FOLDEYE'S TENEMENT - a holding in the lordship of Roath destroyed by flood in 1492. (C.R.V. 367). Named after John Foldey. (C.R.1.181,186,232.,C.R.III.88-90).

FOUR ELMS. Name given to a lane or read, a district and a public house in Roath. Four Elms Lane is described in C.R.V.369 as “a mile east of Cardiff, lately widened into a street, leading E.S.E. from Newport Road to Clifton Street and Broadway, Roath. So called from four noble elms which stood between the lane and the high road. They were felled in 1901 to widen the thoroughfare. One of the Cardiff Eisteddfodau was proclaimed under these elms, it is said." A photograph, of which the Society holds a copy, was taken in 1897 and is reproduced in the Public Library Journal Vol.III. March 1902. Also "Cardiff Yesterday" - Stewart Williams - Vol.7 Nos. 31 and 33. show the elm trees and the nearby ancient milestone which is still in situ on the triangular green adjoining the Roath Library in Newport Road. The inscription, now barely discernible, reads "To the ‘Town Hall, Cardiff, one mile." A plot known as “Four Elms" can be identified in the Land Tax assessments from 1782 to 1800. Until 1785 the owner was Thomas Thomas, gent. Richard Phillpott took over the tenancy from Wm. Harris in 1784. After the death of Thomas Thomas, the ownership had passed to Sir Herbert Mackworth by 1788 and by 1799 was in the hands of Sir Digby Mackworth. In 1800 the land was still occupied by the Phillpott family. The 1841 Census gives Mary Hazel age 45 as a victualler living in Four Elms with Susan Hazel (presumably her daughter) age 13. Other residents whose address is given as Four Elms are Mary Thomas, age 25, Thomas Williams, a 23 year old agricultural labourer and his wife and two young children. Two other agricultural labourers are Jones Jones and Frederick Gilbert aged 20 and 15 years respectively. The 1851 Census shows four households (Schedule Nos.37 - 40) described as in "Four Elms". They were: (1) John Harding, age 61, an agricultural labourer and his wife (2) Thomas James, age 27, an agricultural labourer and waggoner and his wife, 3 year old son and 8 month old daughter and his 63 year old widowed mother, described as a pauper, formerly a housekeeper. (3) Christopher Douglas age 28, clerk of the Taff Vale Railway Co. and his 24 year old wife. In Charles Wakeford’s and Ewen’s Directories of 1855 Mr Douglas’s address is given as "Roath Cottage" and Bird’s Directory of 1858 describes him as "accountant." to the T.V.R. (4) Susan Routly, age 49, described as Accountant ‘s wife and her 4 year old daughter.

FULFORD HENGE, THE. A fishery on the sea shore near the mouth of the Taff in the lordship of Roath. (1542). C.R.V.369.

GASCOIN. "Mr Corbett marks with this name a small piece of land south of Portmanmoor and just S.W. of the Tharsis Copper Works, on the shore of the East Moors." - C.R.V. 370.

GLANNANT. See "Dwy Erw Glannant"”

GOFER-Y-MARCHOG. (The Rivulet of the Knight). A piece of land near Pont-Lleici in the parish of Roath and manor of Roath Keynsham. (1702) - C.R.V.371.

GOLDENHOOK. "Gouldenhoke". Great and little. Two pieces of pasture land measuring 12 and 11 acres respectively in the lordship of Roath (1492). C.R.V.371.

GOOSELEAS. "Goslyus". A parcel of land in the lordship of Roath (1542). It is pasture land between Roath Church and the Deri Farm. In the Roath Keynsham survey of 1703 it is called "Goose Lease". - C.R.V.372. In the Tithe Apportionment (1840) it is shown as two adjacent plots: Plot 270. "Gwslath". Pasture. 2a.0r.7p. Plot 270a."Gwslath". Pasture. 1a.2r.5p. Owner: Sir Charles Morgan.

It is not clear whether geese were reared there or whether it was a place frequented by wild geese. According to the Reminiscences of Old Inhabitants recorded by J.H.M. in 1896 (see Project Newsletter Vol.I. p.23.) "Goose Lear, or “Gwsler,” is the common between Roath Mill and the Deri Farm, where large droves of geese used to feed."

GOWT, The. A fishery in the lordship of Roath (1542). C.R.V.372.

GREAT BARN ("Skibor Vawr"). See also "Court. Farm", "Cwrt Bach", "Dean’s Farm","Deansfield" and "Roath Court Farm". On Tithe Plan & Apportionment,1840, it is shown as "Dean’s Farm". The farmstead was in the village near the church but its 117 acres of land were on various plots south of the highway (Cardiff to Rumney). Later known as "Roath Court Farm". Owner: Marquess of Bute. 1841 Census: Wm. Evans (Senior) age 73 1851 Census: Thos. Evans age 24 - farming 20 acres.

GREAT HOUSE, The. See "TY MAWR"

GREEN, ‘The. Plot 356 on Tithe Plan. Pasture & Wood 5a.2r.4p. part of Llwynygrant. Owner:Thos. Wm. Edwards. Occupier: Wm. Richards.

GREEN FIELD. Plot 362 on Tithe Plan. Arable 5a.2r.25p. part. of Lower Llwynygrant. Owner: Thos. Wm. Edwards. Occupier: Wm Richards.

GREEN LANE. The name by which Broadway, Roath was known until 1875. - C.R.V.373.

GFEENWARD. ("Greneourde"). Certain pastures in the marshlands in the lordship of Roath (1492, 1542). - C.R.V.373. A variation of spelling of Grene Word alias Wood (Chanc. Proc. 1558-70). C.R.III.88. C.R.1.187,233,294.

GRIFFITHSMOOR, or GRIFFITHMORE, is included by J.H.M. in his "Notes on the Manors of Cardiff" in C.R.II.29. and they are reproduced hereunder: "Griffithsmoor, or Griffithmore, is the name given to certain lands the main part of which lies on the north side of the road from Cardiff to Newport, and extends to Rumney bridge. Though sometimes styled a “lordship,” it appears to be usually treated in the Inquisitions, etc., as parcel of, or at least connected with Whitchurch, itself a "member" of Senghenydd. It is partly bounded by the manor of Roath Keynsham. Griffithsmoor, probably, was never a distinct manor. Its name may have been derived from Griffith ap Rhys, the last Welsh Lord of Senghenydd. He was Lord at the date of the Extent of Glamorgan which Mr Clark attributes to the year 1262, but by 1295 the lordship was in the hands of the Chief Lord. In same Annals(Cartae III.,p.558) under the date 1266 it is stated that "Griffinus ap Reys" was sent to Kilkenny to be imprisoned. 1307. Griffithsmoor is entered in Inquisitions on the death of Joan de Clare as composed of 60 acres of arable land and 16 acres of meadow, and in the same document "the moor of Griffith" is called a member of the Castle and VIII of Kayrfilli (in Senghenydd). 1314. Gruffismor is valued as a parcel of Whitminster. (I.P.M. of Gilbert de Clare.) 1316. In a Minister’s Account the accountant answers (among other dependencies of the Manor of Whitchurch) for 30s. received from the pasturage of 60 acres of arable land in cultivation this year in Griffithsmor. (Cartae I.,p.222.) 1376. The Custodian accounts for 66s.8d. of the issues of a certain pasture called Griffithesmore." (C.R.1.154.) 1440. An Inquisition names "the lordship of Griffithmore." (I.P.M. of Isabella, Countess of Warwick.) 1492. Morgan ap John Gwyn farmed the pasture of Griffithmore. 1550.The Particulars for the royal grant to Sir William Herbert include "the farm of a pasture called Griffithmore in Kybor; eight acres whereof are in Enormore amongst: the lands of Lord Herbart, and the rest is near the causey leading from Romney to Cardiff, containing by estimation 53 acres." 1807. In this year Griffithmoor was conveyed in exchange by the then Marquess of Bute to Mark Wood, Esquire, and is now (1900) understood to belong to Colonel Amelius Richard Mark Lockwood." The land is referred to as "Morfa Ruffudd" by Rice Merrick (c.1578) in his Morganiae Archaiographia. (S.Wales Record Society, Volume 1, 1983. Ed: Brian Ll. James) p.43: After recounting the story originally recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis of Ifor Bach’s kidnapping of William Earl of Gloucester and his wife and child c.1158 "...... not setting them at liberty until he was restored to as much and more as he (William) had forcibly taken from him", Rice Meirick goes on to say: "And of this, as report of elder time remained, the Earl gave him of his own lands a meadow near the Rumney, of whose name it is at this day called Morfa Ifor; and unto Gruffudd, son to Ifor Petit, another meadow of his name called Morfa Ruffudd. Which at this day, retain those names." The name occurs in the Roath Keynsham Survey of 1702.- (p.97 (2) Project Newsletter Vol.1.):

"...... and from thence it is meared by the said river Rumney until it cameth to a moor called Griffith’s Moor being the lands of Thomas Morgan of Llanrumney Esq., now in the tenure of John William and others, on the one side; and from then it is meared Southward with a ditch that serveth between the said Griffith ’s-moor and other lands of the Countess Dowager of Pembroke."

Unfortunately, the name Griffithsmoor is now lost and it is not even mentioned in the Tithe Apportionment although its location can be identified with considerable accuracy from the Apportionment Schedule and Map as being the plots of land owned by William Mark Wood adjoining the Rhymney River both north and south of the highway. The most substantial plot is that bordering the present Newport Road between the point at which the Roath Brook goes under the road at Pengam as far as Rumney Bridge. It would include, therefore, the area on which was built the old Roath Power Station as well as the whole of the industrial estate between Colchester Avenue and Rumney Bridge.

GWAIN JOHN HOWELL. Field No.7 in Splott Survey 1777. 10a.1r.0p. Tredegar N.L.W.56/442

GWAIN Y SPLOT ISHA. Field No.25 in Splott Survey 1777. 6a.1r.0p. Tredegar N.L.W.56/442

GWAIN HEOL Y BRINDON. Field No.26 in Splott Survey 1777. 3a.3r.16p. (see also "Brendon", and "Pumer heol y brindonn" (Plot No.37)

GUARDA BACH. Plot 392 Tithe Appt. 3a.3r.1]9p. Pasture. Owner: Wm. Mark Wood. Occ: David Meyrick. GWAUN MAELOG. "Gwain y Mailloch" (Maeloc’s Mead). A meadow bordering on the S.W. of Pengam (1702 Survey) Also described as a tenement and six acres in Roath Moor in the manor of Llystalybont (1653) - C.R.V. 375

GWAUN SION EYWEL. (John Howel's Mead) A piece of land on the shore of the Fast Moor (1764) - C.R.V. 375.

GWAUN Y PWLL. (The meadow of the pool). In the parish of Roath and Roath Keynsham. It was holden with Pengan in 1702. C.R.V. 375.

GWAUN Y CANDDA. (probably mis-spelling of Cyndda, q.v). Plot No.249 Tithe Appt. Part of Pen-y- wain. 6a.0r.2p. meadow. Owner :Bute. Occ: Fdwd. Richards.

GWSLATH. See "GOOSELFAS"

GYNOR. See "Croft y Gynor"

1872

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ROATH LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH

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THE

OFFICER OF HEALTH'S REPORT

on

SANITARY CONDITION OF ROATH,

During the Year 1872.

By H. J. PAINE, M.D., M.R.C.S., &c, &c.,

Medical Officer of Health,

Honorary Member of the Epidemiological Society,

Honorary Member of the Metropolitan Association

of Officers of Health.

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PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH.

CARDIFF:

Printed at the "GUARDIAN" office

St John Street

ROATH LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH

Cardiff, April 1, 1873.

To The Chairman and Members Of The Roath Local Board of Health.

Gentlemen,

I lay before you to-day my Report on the Sanitary Condition of the District of the Roath Local Board of Health.

This District comprises of an area of 700 acres. It is bounded on the West by that of the Borough of Cardiff, in a line drawn from the Great Western Railway through Adamsdown, Meteor-street, Castle- road, and Crwysbychan-road, to the Crwys farm; on the north by the Fair Oak-road to the Roath brook; on the East by the Roath brook to the Great Western Railway; and on the south by the Great Western Railway.

It will be observed that this District does not include the whole of the Parish of Roath - namely, those portions to the east of the Roath brook, and south of the Great Western Railway. When the District was formed those parts were simply agricultural, thinly populated, and little important in a sanitary aspect whether they were included or not; but now that the extension of building points directly to the eastern suburbs of Cardiff, and in fact has already commenced, a considerable portion of the land south of the Great Western Railway will soon partake of an urban character, while the contemplated erection of extensive manufactories, with all the adjuncts to such depots of labour, must exercise material influence on the sanitary condition of the whole of the inhabitants of the immediate neighbourhood. These facts present themselves for your serious consideration, as to whether the entire parish should not come under your jurisdiction, and prevent the anomaly of two separate authorities existing in the same parish, and thereby ensure uniformity of action.

As far as its geology is concerned, it may be sufficient to state that the whole of that portion of Roath between the Newport-road and the Great Western Railway consists of sandy sharp gravel, overlying a bed of strong gravel with marl about 16 feet thick below the surface; that portion to the north of the Newport-road being a strong clayey gravel. Its subsoil, therefore, is favourable to the percolation of surface water.

The drainage of the urban portion, as far as it has been carried out is good; but the rapidity with which streets save been formed and built, as necessarily made it a matter of extreme difficulty to keep pace with its requirements. The system of drainage adopted may be described as follows: Streets on the western side of the district - namely, Clive-street, :Milton-street, Shakespeare-street, Vere-street, Oxford-street, the whole of Castle-road, and about 100 yards of the Newport-road, covering an area of 15 acres, are drained into the Cardiff Sewers. These are flushed from a tank at the summit of this part of the district, fed from the brook on the north end of Castle-road in winter, and from the Water works main in summer. This, combined with a rapid fall, keeps them in good condition, the sewers being deep enough to drain all the cellars and underground floors. The remaining and largest sewers are drained into an outfall sewer, which discharges itself into the sea on the Splott-Moors about a mile to the east of Cardiff, and the same distance from the boundary of the district. The sewers of this portion are flushed partially from a tank in Milton-street, and partly from tanks constructed at the upper ends of the respective sewers, with water supplied by the Water Works Company. These sewers have good gradients, and are of a size sufficiently large to admit personal inspection, with the exception of some streets in the southern part of the district - namely, Eclipse-street, Comet-street, Planet-street, System-street, Platinum-street and Zinc-street; also some in the central part - viz., Wordsworth-street, Southey-street, Dryden—street, Partridge- road, and Oakfield-street. The sewers in these streets being of small dimensions are inaccessible; they are, however, in moderate working order, with the exception of that in Partridge-road, in which such obstruction exists as to require immediate attention.

These drains are all fitted with ventilating shafts placed in the middle of the streets, and the foul air being passed through layers of charcoal is deprived of its offensive gases.

Since the construction of the sewers the level of the subsoil water has been gradually lowered, resulting in an imperceptible but effectual drying of the air, and very appreciable purification of the atmosphere.

A sunk reservoir is constructed at the sea outfall for the reception of storm waters and any unusual flow in the sewers during the high water of spring tides, when the outfall doors are closed. This reservoir prevents the accumulation of back water in the sewers, and the consequent forcing of foul air through the ventilators in the upper part of the district. At neap tides the outfall is always free.

Of the undrained parts of the district, John-street and Helen-street are now being drained, by which the oft-recurring nuisances will he effectually abated. The remaining portions - those in the St. James' district, consisting of James-street, Charles-street, Rose-street, Lily-street, and Clive-place - have been only recently built, and are not provided with any description or drainage. ‘There are about 150 houses occupied in this locality, and although the nature of the subsoil is such as to permit the percolation of surface water and impurities, thus mitigating to some degree the evils likely to arise from the present absence of drainage, still it is essentially necessary your attention should be directed to this urgent want before the hot weather sets in. Other undrained parts of the district, north of the Merthyr-road and east of Oakfield-street, including Spring-gardens and the village of Roath, cannot be reached by the present system of sewers. Special attention should therefore be paid to the sanitary arrangements of the houses, to their water closets, and the imperfect nature of the surface gullies in the proximity to them. In many instance the houses recently built near the Crwys gate, which have cesspools for closet drainage; but surface drainage and house impurities are discharged into an open ditch on the western side of the road. Opposite to these houses, in hot weather, the contents become stagnant, are very offensive, and cause frequent complaints. The occupiers of the hamlet of houses situated at the junction of the Penylan and Merthyr-road are exposed to the excitants of zymotic disease to a serious degree. The cottages formerly used as a workhouse have their closet accommodation at the northern end of the gardens opposite the houses; the ordure falls into an open ditch passing along the western side of the gardens, to and abutting the pine ends of the houses. Having no further outlet, the contents become stagnant, converting the ditch into an open elongated cesspool, which is at times offensive, and in summer weather seriously so. This should be remedied without delay. Close to these houses, on the western side of Penylan-road, there exists an open drain, in which all the surface water and house impurities are received. When visited a few days back this was very offensive. The ditch near the houses and highway should be covered.

The condition of the premises belonging to a cottage situated in a field at the eastern side of this road and the junction of the Penylan and Merthyr-roads is such as render the houses unfit and dangerous for occupation. There exists no closet accommodation; the absence of any provision for surface drainage, with its low level, precludes any natural means of exit for the soakings from the pigstyes, the overflowings from the ill-constructed open cesspool, and the abominations which exist there to a most serious degree.

The Spring-garden cottages have cesspools, but no provision for surface drainage and house impurities. This matter is discharged by ill-constructed sewers into an open ditch on the northern side of Green-lane, immediately opposite to the dwelling-houses; after this it passes by a covered channel inside the turnpike road, when it again becomes an open ditch, continuing its course for some distance contiguous to the public path; afterwards discharging itself into the adjoining fields.

The meadows lying between the Merthyr-road and the Roath brook, north of Roath Church, are during a wet season little better than a swamp, owing to obstructions in the lower part of the brook, and general neglect in not keeping the banks properly trimmed and the watercourse clear. The injurious effects of fogs and miasma from this cause must be experienced throughout the whole of the adjacent lands, and the cold vapour must produce its deleterious influence on the Penylan side of the valley, as well as on the western side.

If combined action could be taken between your Board and the parish authorities, and proper aid given by the owners of lands adjoining the brook, considerable improvement might, I apprehend, be made without serious outlay. I need hardly impress on your attention the excessive retention of moisture in the soil during the winter months, to be rapidly evaporated in the warm days of early spring, is highly conducive to pulmonary disease.

The water supply is abundant and good. It is furnished on the constant principle to the whole of the urban parts of the district, at a cost of 5 per cent. on all the rentals exceeding £20, and 6 per cent. on the rentals below that sum, by the Cardiff Water Works Company. An analysis has recently been made, which is as follows:

Carbonate of lime 11.54 " " magnesia 2.17 Sulphate of magnesia 1.10 Chloride of magnesium 0.77 " " sodium 0.60 Combustible matter 0.60 Nitric acid A trace Ammonia 0.02 16.80 grains to the gallon.

This water is obtained by the company from the mountain springs of the Lisvane Hills, distant five or six miles from Roath. At the base of these hills the Company has constructed large reservoirs capable of storing 100,000,000 gallons of water. On leaving the reservoirs, the water has to pass through extensive filter beds, and it is afterwards transparent, void of taste or smell and well aerated.

In the outlying districts the houses are supplied thus - Those near the Crwys gate obtain pump water from a well sunk in the sand below the gravel; the tenants speak of it as being good and never failing. The houses at the junction of the Merthyr and Penylan-roads obtain their potable water from a shallow natural well or reservoir on the northern side of the Merthyr-road. The well is supplied by springs, is never dry, and is conveniently accessible to the whole of the houses in this locality. The water necessary for other domestic purposes can be obtained from the water courses which exist abundantly here. The cottages near the church obtain water from a pump belonging to the neighbouring farm. The Spring-garden houses are supplied the well-water obtained from the gravel sub-soil, which is porous, and consequently permits surface water to percolate thorough it. The imperfect provision for drainage already descried as existing in this locality, endangers the quality of this water, especially if more houses should be erected there; although during the percolation the suspended matter may be retained, organic end other impurities in a state of solution will pass through. This fact is made clear by Dr. Parkes, who states in his work on Hygiene "that shallow wells are apt to be contaminated by floods carrying in surface impurities; and by sewage soaking from cesspits, and matters of all kinds thrown out on the ground. To a certain extent the soil through which these substances pass will filter and purify the water, but it must eventually lose this power, and also at last find its way into a well. A well drains an extent of ground around it in the shape of an inverted cone, which is in proportion to its own depth and looseness of the soil; in very loose soils a well 60 or 80ft. will drain a large area, perhaps as much as 200ft. in diameter, or even more, but the exact amount is not precisely determined."

The main of the Water Works Company is now carried on to Pengam, sufficiently near to be accessible to these houses, if it is deemed necessary to supply them from that source. The house accommodation is adequate to the requirements of the district, and has kept pace with the growing population.

According to the censuses of 1851, 1861, and 1871, the number of houses occupied, were respectively as follows:-

Year Number of Inhabited houses. Average number of occupants to each house.

1851 63 6.2 1861 525 5.7 1871 1213 6.5

In 1873 the number of inhabited houses has increased to 1559, the average number of the inmates to each house on the estimated population being 5.5; there are also 86 houses void or in course of construction. The houses consist of a large number of villas, the streets chiefly of tenements of a good description for mechanics and labourers, which are lofty, well-ventilated, and have areas behind, used as gardens; at the end of the gardens, and at a distance from the house, closet accommodation is provided.

The streets are wide and kept clean. The scavenging and removing of nuisances are performed under contract, by which all premises should be cleared three times a week, and I have reason to believe this is fairly done. The watering of the streets is also done under an annual contract to the extent necessary during dry weather.

I have very carefully examined the Report Book of your Inspector of Nuisances, Sergeant King. I find he reported during the year 127 nuisances as existing in houses or in their backlets. These nuisances chiefly occurred in John-street, where 26 houses were reported as in an improper state; in Milton- street, 27; and in Shakespeare-street, 13. The other nuisances reported consisted of isolated cases throughout the district. He had occasion to report nuisances recurring a second time in 24 instances, a third time in two instances, and a fourth time in one instance. he notifies that several complaints were properly attended to. The subjects for complaint were the improper state of water closets, stagnant water, and accumulation of house refuse, an absence of surface drainage, and keeping animals on the premises.

During my inspection, I had reason to consider he discharged his duty efficiently, and that his reports fairly represent the state of the district; it is therefore satisfactory to find that only on one occasion had the Inspector found it necessary to report a house as being over-crowded. I do not believe that this evil exists to any great extent in the Roath district.

The rainfall of 1872 was unprecedentedly heavy and continuous. The total was a third above the average, and the number of wet days exceeded any previous record in the neighbourhood. Electrical disturbances were very frequent. The temperature was generally high, but the summer heat by day was much diminished by the constant moisture and prevalence of clouds. Floods were wide spread and disastrous.

The rainfall in this district during five successive years ending 1871 was as follows:-

1867 37.02" 1868 39.77" 1869 40.85" 1870 35.60" 1871 41.16"

In 1872, the rainfall rose to 56.28 inches, and was distributed over the year as below:-

January 7.51 February 4.65 March 3.57 April 1.99 May 2.18 June 3.96 July 5.53 August 4.13 September 4.30 October 5.70 November 5.13 December 7.57 Total 50.28 inches.

Having thus alluded to the various collateral circumstances necessary to be considered when estimating the sanitary condition of the locality, I may now call your attention to those which more particularly bear upon the subject - namely, the Population, its rate of increase, its Births, and its Deaths.

The population of Roath has within the last few years increased with an almost unprecedented rapidity - this may be recognized by a reference to the censuses for 1851, 1861, and 1871.

Census. Population. 1851 312 1861 3044 1871 7986

It may now be estimated at 8500, The Births registered during the year 1872 were 404, being at the rate of 7.52 per 1000 population.

The deaths registered during the same period were 164, of these, 89 were males, and 75 females. The death-rate being 19.29 per 1000. The mean annual death-rate of England during the decennial period ended 1870, being 22.76 per 1000. The district, therefore, contrasts most favourably, whether estimated by the large excess of Births over Deaths, or by the low death-rate compared with that ruling the Kingdom. The deaths at age took place as underneath:

Under one year 43 Above One year, and under Two years 26 Two " Three 4 Three " Four 8 Four " Five 5 Five " Ten 8 Ten " Fifteen 7 Fifteen " Twenty-five 11 Twenty-five " Thirty-five 12 Thirty-five " Forty-five 9 Forty-five " Fifty-five 7 Fifty-five " Sixty-five 9 Sixty-five " Seventy-five 5 Seventy-five " Eighty-five 4 Eighty-five " Ninety-five 1 164

According to the above analysis, the infantile rate of mortality in this district contrasts very favourably with that ruling the kingdom. During the year 1872 the mortality of children under one year of age in the whole of England was at the rate of 13.7 per cent. of the births; in Roath this was 11.8.

Mr. Simon, Medical Officer of Health to the Privy Council, in a report made to that Board, states "that the death rates of young children are among the most important studies in sanitary science. In the first place, their tender young lives, as compared with the more hardened and acclimatised lives of the adult population, furnish a very sensitive test of sanitary circumstances; so that differences of infantile death-rate are, under certain qualifications, the best proof of differences of household condition in any number of compared districts. And secondly, those places where infants are most apt to die are necessarily the places whose survivors are most apt to be sickly; and where, if they struggle through a scrofulous childhood to realise an abortive puberty, they beget a still sicklier brood than themselves, even less capable of labour, and even less susceptible of education."

It cannot be too distinctly recognised that the high mortality of children must almost necessarily denote a high local prevalence of those causes which determine a degeneration of race.

The registered causes of Death are show by the subjoined table. I also illustrate the mortality produced by each disease in this district, as compared with the mean annual mortality from the like cause throughout the Kingdom during the decennial period alluded to.

DISEASES Deaths Rate of mortality Mean annual rate of to 1000 living mortality to 1000 living in all England Convulsions 9 1.058 1.261

Diseases of Brain 2 0.235 0.253

Apoplexy 3 0.352 0.481 Paralysis 2 0.235 0.499 total 16 Phthisis 22 2.588 2.729 Bronchitis 10 1.176 1.748 Inflammation of Lungs 11 1.294 1.136 total 43 Disease of Heart 8 0.941 0.973 Disease of Stomach 1 0.117 0.013

Disease of Liver 3 0.352 0.025 Sporadic Diseases,Seat Known Sporadic Disease of Bowels 4 0.470 0.281 Disease of Kidney 1 0.001 0.021 total 9

Fever Contd. and Typ 4 0.470 0.890 Fever Puerperal 2 0.235 0.111 Measles 16 1.882 0.465 Smallpox 10 1.176 0.169 Hooping Cough 2 0.235 0.529 Croup 5 0.588 0.255 Zymotic Diseases Zymotic Diarrhoea 17 2.000 0.871 total 56

Phlegmon 2 0.235 0.023 Strunea 2 0.235 0.014 Cancer 4 0.470 0.314

Atrophy, Deb. and Mesentery 14 1.617 1.447 Spradic Spradic Diseases, Teething 2 0.235 0.224 Unknown Seat Unknown total 24 Age 4 0.470 1.352 4 Inquest 4 0.470 0.746 4

All causes 164 19.29 22.76

By the above table it will be seen that the rate of mortality has been less in this district than throughout the Kingdom with few exceptions. The chief of these exceptions being smallpox and diarrhoea - these epidemics prevailed extensively throughout the Kingdom in 1872, but did not occur to any extent during the decennial period included in the table.

The total cases of smallpox reported during the epidemic were 60. These occurred in the following streets:-

Adamsdown cottages 1 Clifton-street 4 Clive-street 3 Constellation-street 1 Comet-street 4 Croft-street 1 Elm-street 3 Green-lane 1 Island cottages 1 Ivor-street 3 John-street 15 Milton-street 1 Planet-street 3 Shakespeare-street 4 Woodcock-street 6 Zinc-street 2 System-street 6 Newport-road 1 Total: 60

Of these the following terminated fatally: 1 in June, a female, aged 14, residing in Milton-street; July 18, a female, aged 15, in Green-lane; the same day a male, aged 21, in Oxford-street; August 8, a male, aged 11, in John-street; August 18, a male, aged 27, in Clifton-street; August 24, a female, aged 8, in John-street; August 27, a male, aged 6, in Zinc-street; October 27, a male, aged 28, in Clive-street; December 8, a male aged 31, in System-street; and August 25, a male, aged 28, in Constellation-street. The total Deaths from smallpox were 10. It is satisfactory to know that only in 7 houses a second case occurred. The houses were thoroughly disinfected under the supervision of Sergeant King, and every means taken to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Revaccination was ad- opted in all infected houses with great success; and primary vaccination carried out very efficiently by the public vaccinator.

The deaths from diarrhoea were chiefly infantile.

I have now brought before your notice all matters which may be considered interesting to your Board in a sanitary point of view; with the hope that in pointing out the various localities where excitant or predisposing causes of disease exist in your district, you may be enabled to apply such powers as you possess to remove these, and maintain your present low rate of mortality.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, H. J. PAINE, M.D.